Therese celebrated her feast every year on October 15, the feast of St. Teresa of Avila ("Therese" being merely the French version of "Teresa"). On October 15, 1889 she wrote to her sister Celine to thank her for feast day gifts. Therese was then a 16-year-old novice, already in Carmel for eighteen months. Eight months before their father had been taken to the Bon Sauveur aslyum at Caen, where he would remain for two and a half years more. An excerpt from Therese's letter:

"Celine . . . . Your letter pleased me very much; I felt how much our souls were made to understand each other, and to walk by the same way! . . . . Life, ah, it's true, for us it has no more attraction . . . but I am mistaken. It's true that the attractions of this world have vanished for us, but this is only a smoke, and therealityremains for us. Yes, life is a treasure . . . each moment is an eternity, an eternity of joy in heaven, an eternity of seeing God face to face, of being one with Him! . . . There is only Jesus who is; all the rest is not . . . . Let us love Him, then, unto folly; let us save souls for Him."1

"Only Jesus is; all the rest is not . . . ." How these words echo Therese's courageous dedication to reality, she who would say at the end of her life, "O my God . . . . Make me see things as they really are. Let nothing cause me to be deceived."2

Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the Parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The lives of Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux; their spirituality; the life of their family; their beatification in 2008 and canonization in 2015; what we can learn from them today. Articles, homilies, conferences, photo galleries. A unique photo show to celebrate the visit of their relics to Ireland in 2018.